online Spectrum 360 video newscast: This week, the team recaps Wes Moore’s visit to campus and checks out the men’s and women’s basketball teams debut at Bulls Madness and the West Side Bazaar.
THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT PUBLICATION OF THE UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, SINCE 1950
ubspectrum.com
Monday, october 20, 2014
Volume 64 No. 25
An explosion of color for ISA’s silver anniversary
Tripathi delivers third annual State of the University Address
UB’s Indian Student Association celebrates its 25th anniversary
SAMAYA ABDUS-SALAAM ASST. NEWS EDITOR
Producing the next generation of humanitarians, innovators, scientists and artists is President Satish Tripathi’s vision for the future of UB students. Friday morning, President Tripathi gave his third annual State of the University Address in Slee Hall to an audience of students, faculty, staff, members of the UB Council and Foundation, alumni and Mayor Bryon Brown. Tripathi reminded the university of initiatives like UB 2020 and what steps the university has taken and will take in the future to improve UB. He also emphasized UB’s goal to create a bond between the university and the City of Buffalo. “We are a great university,” Tripathi said. “But great universities don’t stand still. Every day we must set our sights higher for the sake of our students, communities and the world around us. That is the heart of our mission as a public research university.” He credits UB 2020, the university’s plan to provide students with the best education by refining UB in both academia and physical appearance, for being the driving force of progress the school has made. With programs like Finish-in-4, the Academics, discovery seminars and the Honors College, Tripathi said students have the opportunities to “gain valuable global experience.” Tripathi said he sees the success of these programs through projects like the mechanical engineering students who were able to test their design in NASA’s near-zero-gravity facilities or the environmental science students who plan to spend their winter break restoring the wetlands on the Louisiana coast. SEE TRIPATHI, PAGE 2
DEVASHISH AGARWAL
STAFF WRITER
EMILY LI, THE SPECTRUM
Zodiac Dance Company 'wows' audience in its 41st season.
An array of multi-colored fireworks will light up the sky Nov. 1 to commemorate UB Indian Student Association’s festival of Diwali. UB’s Indian Student Association (ISA) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and plans to hold lively, engaging events at an unprecedented level, according to Rohan Kapoor, a sophomore business major and president of ISA. “We’ll leave no stone unturned,” he said. “This is a big year for the club, and we want the whole of UB to celebrate with us.” UB’s ISA was founded in 1989. The club hopes to get more students at UB involved with the club by hosting a multitude of events to celebrate the club’s anniversary. “Our greatest event this year will be a whole day Diwali Mela on Nov. 1,” said Veena Nair, a senior finance major and treasurer of the ISA. “This is the first time that UB will see such a big endeavour from any of the clubs on campus.” ISA is organizing Diwali, an Indian festival of lights celebrated every fall, in place of Muqabla, an annual intercollegiate dance competition ISA has organized and held at UB for the last 15 years. “Last year people were disappointed in Muqabla,” said Tamana Ranka, a junior business major. “It was a blow to ISA.” Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil and is one of the biggest festivals in India. SEE ISA, PAGE 2
SEE STORY PAGE 4.
Faculty Senate Executive Committee votes not to create department of Jewish Studies AMANDA LOW
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
The Faculty Senate Executive Committee voted not to pass the proposal to make the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage (IJTH) into a department within the College of Arts and Sciences. The senate voted with seven “no” votes and six “yes” votes at a meeting Wednesday. The proposal to make the institute into a department was introduced at the Faculty Senate meeting on Oct. 7, but the body was not able to make a vote because it did not have a quorum – meaning 50 percent plus one of the Senate members are present – at the time of the vote. The proposal was then moved to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee where it failed to pass. “The Faculty Senate Academic Planning and Assessment Committee, which I chair, voted unanimously to recommend not advancing the Institute of Jewish Heritage to department status at this time,” said English professor Diane Christian in an email. “We felt it had too few faculty, students, and affiliated scholarly support.” Bruce Pitman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said the idea to create a department of Jewish Studies has been around for about 30 years. In 2008, the current institute was created with the intent of eventually creating a department. In 2011, the Faculty Senate endorsed a proposal to create a Bachelors of Arts
degree in Jewish Studies. The degree proposal addressed issues of student interest, duplication of degrees across the university and faculty strength to teach in the program, Pitman said. A minor and bachelor’s degree currently exist for Jewish Studies. “One must believe that the curriculum outlined in the proposal for the degree was considered rigorous, and the faculty in the Institute were of appropriate caliber to teach,” he said. “One wonders, then, how the Senate could approve that degree at that time but now take issue with the faculty and scholarly direction of the proposed department.” Pitman worked with Richard Cohen, the director of the current institute, and other faculty members to begin working on the proposal to create a Department of Jewish Thought in spring 2014. The policy committee, which is the faculty governing body of the College of Arts and Sciences, approved the proposal before sending it to the Faculty Senate. Pitman said some issues discussed during the senate meeting were not relevant to creating a department. He said the subcommittee debated on the phrase “Jewish Thought” for the department, “arguing that a broader consideration of Jewish studies was more appropriate.” “Nevertheless, no matter how interesting the question might be for intellectual discussion, it should have no bearing on whether or not a department – of whatever name – should be created,” he said
Faculty who opposed the move felt the institute wasn’t big enough to become a department or that there should be a broader department focusing on religious thought. Pitman said the committee also objected to the format of the proposal because it did not conform to SUNY guidelines, but he said there are no SUNY guidelines for this kind of proposal. Christian said there will “surely” be plans to revisit making a department of Jewish Thought in the future. She said she feels UB would benefit from having the department. “There is real need for academically rigorous understanding of religious, ethical and historical matters,” she said. “Many in the Senate meeting want broader Religious Studies scholarship as well. Such departments are not easy to build.” Pitman said students have shown interest in courses that are offered about Jewish Studies. He said the executive committee suggested creating a department of religious studies instead, but there was not enough discussion about students who would be interested, or the faculty members who would join the proposed department. “Recognizing the Senate’s voice on the curriculum, however, is different from that body having a veto regarding the organizational and administrative structures within the College of Arts and Sciences,” he said. email: news@ubspectrum.com
COURTESY OF UB NEWS CENTER
On Wednesday, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee voted not to pass making the Institute of Jewish Thought and Heritage into a department. Bruce Pitman, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, helped to create the proposal and he said feels there should have been more discussion on the creation of the department.